Naltrexone for SH

[Geek]

Has anyone here tried Naltrexone for reducing self harm? My pdoc has had me on it for a while and I wondered what other people's experiences with it are.

I don't think it reduces my urges to self harm, but I may have a decrease in the relief I get from SH-ing, if that makes sense? I dunno. Maybe my urges are decreased. They're still there, and I have been harming myself... but I think less than before the Naltrexone. It's hard to tell, I've not been particularly stable lately. 

Anyway - thoughts?

 

[Wooster]

I've heard from others that Naltrexone can help exactly how you're describing. It messes up the reward pathways reinforce self harm (and a bunch of other behaviors as well, but yes... you get the idea I think.)

It sucks you've been struggling so much lately. I know you've needed to catch a break for a long time and it hasn't been forthcoming.

What function/role do you find SH serving for you? How does it help, even if it makes things worse in the long run?

[aura]

I took naltrexone for SH but it didn't do anything. I'm sort of an unusual case, though... I was self-harming due to psychosis. When the psychosis went away, so did my SH urges. My doctor kept me on the stuff for a while though just in case.

[Geek]

23 hours ago, Wooster said:

I've heard from others that Naltrexone can help exactly how you're describing. It messes up the reward pathways reinforce self harm (and a bunch of other behaviors as well, but yes... you get the idea I think.)

It sucks you've been struggling so much lately. I know you've needed to catch a break for a long time and it hasn't been forthcoming.

What function/role do you find SH serving for you? How does it help, even if it makes things worse in the long run?

Thanks Woo. 

SH... it's something that can hold my focus almost all the time. I can pay attention to that to the exclusion of most other things. It's also a way to validate my feelings, if that makes sense. That might not be the right word. It's like... a real/good/true reason for being upset or crying or something. I grew up getting attention and empathy for physical hurts but berated for emotional ones or things which were viewed to be something I could control/prevent (like, if you're lonely "just" go out and make friends), and I think this is a manifestation of that. I dunno if that makes sense. And it's a way to punish myself for feeling ways I "shouldn't."

[Wooster]

It totally makes sense that it's easier to hold your attention and also that it's a way to have a visible "ouch" that can be tended to as a way to try to give yourself care. I'm not sure if I'm capturing the essence of that correctly in your case, but just to say that I get it. I also come from a long line of "if you're not bleeding from the eyeballs you're fine"/"shit or get off the pot" people. It's hard to feel like it's ok to have feelings about things when they were dismissed or didn't matter.

[Geek]

You got it, Woo. My therapist is working with me on self care skills that I can implement instead of SH. Stuff like taking a shower, putting on comfy clothes, eating comfort food or drinking a hot beverage or something. Sometimes those help.

[Wooster]

I'm glad you have some things that sometimes help.

One of the things I learned over the last 10 years of truly getting better is "don't do anything that makes it worse. Find anything that makes it better, no matter how small the amount of better and keep doing it."